Lab Tech Ibrahim Built a 6-Figure Wedding Business in 2 Years

He was a lab tech second-shooting weddings on the side. Two years later, he's running a 6-figure studio with 40 weddings booked and his first virtual assistant. Ibrahim Hayek of Hayek Studios started as a bio-trained lab technician who picked up second-shooting gigs on the side, unsure how to turn a hobby into a real business. After joining Elite by The Icon Agency, he learned sales and Facebook advertising from scratch, went from roughly $50-60K his first year to $115,000 this year, and now has 40 weddings booked for next year, complete with associate shooters and a newly hired VA. In this interview, Ibrahim talks candidly about the fear of that first big investment in himself, why he almost gave up on tracking KPIs because it felt boring, and how learning to run ads properly saved him from wasting thousands of dollars in costly trial and error. He also breaks down his sales philosophy: sell yourself first, ask genuine "why" questions to understand what couples actually want, and never make them feel like just a dollar sign, even when they don't have a venue or date locked in yet. If you're new to running a wedding business and unsure whether investing in ads or coaching is worth it, this is worth watching. In this video: 00:00 Ibrahim's background as a lab tech and second shooter 04:39 The real problem: no sales or marketing experience 08:42 The fear of that first big investment in himself 17:14 Learning to track and use KPIs 21:07 The math behind profitable ad spend 27:16 Bringing on associate shooters and scaling the team 39:56 His sales philosophy: sell yourself, ask "why" questions 40:56 The value of learning from other members in the community 46:56 His advice for photographers on the fence More stories like Ibrahim's, and how he got there, at The Icon Agency.